


A Sirius Bone to Pick

by StevenTLawson



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dating, F/M, Hogwarts Fourth Year, Magically Powerful Harry Potter, Marriage Contracts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:42:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25666114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StevenTLawson/pseuds/StevenTLawson
Summary: Harry received truly dreadful news and his entire life changed. Will it be for the better, no one knows. All they can tell you is that Harry won't be in it alone.
Relationships: Amelia Bones/Harry Potter
Comments: 45
Kudos: 159





	1. Getting Boned By a Contract

Harry had been preparing for his departure from the Dursleys to stay with the Weasleys at the Burrow, only a few more days then he would be out of the house and then he could go on to the Quidditch World Cup for some much needed relaxation. A knock sounded on the front door and shortly after Aunt Petunia began shouting up the stairs for him. "It's for you," she said as she stepped out of the way with a huff.

Harry paused at the top of the stairs, he was almost certain it was too early for the Weasleys to come get him, but instead of any of the redheads he saw Professor Dumbledore standing in the doorway looking very sullen. "Harry, I'm, so sorry," he said as he looked at the boy he felt that he had failed.

"What happened?" Harry questioned as he was now very worried about what would cause the headmaster to appear here like this.

"They found him, the Minister ordered hit wizards to attack the Black ancestral home." Albus wrung his hands unsure what to do with them. "He didn't have a way out, I'm so sorry my boy."

Harry stumbled back, he knew of only one person who the headmaster could be talking about. "No, it can't, professor," he tried to form words as the weight of hearing that his godfather, Sirius Black, was now dead settled on him.

"Come with me," Albus extended his hand. "I will do what I can to allow you to see the body," Promising to use the power he wielded in his numerous positions and lies if needed to let Harry see Sirius one last time.

* * *

Harry stood in the room at the Ministry, staring at Sirius Black's lifeless body. "It's not right sir," Harry said. "He was innocent and they hunted him down like, some kind of animal."

"A dog perhaps," Albus tried to lighten the mood but only saw Harry react negatively to the comment. "I'm sorry that was uncalled for." Apologizing for his words.

"Did they even question him?" Harry asked. "Did they even try to find out the truth!!" he shouted in anger as the objects in the room rattled.

Waving his wand to prevent anything from exploding or being flung around, Albus sighed. "No, I got my hands on a copy of the report, it was executed efficiently, the hit wizards took no chances with him, he didn't even go for his wand."

Slamming his hands on the table, surprisingly denting the metal under the force of his magic, Harry let out a howl of pain and anguish. Albus stood stoically as Harry screamed and raged, spewing anger and hatred along with a slew of curses even he'd never heard in his long life and he liked to believe himself friends with Mad-Eye Moody. After a while Harry was left leaning on the table sobbing.

"Now what sir?" Harry sniffled. "What's left to do?"

"Well if the mood is any indication, they will likely motion to have his will read at the Wizengamot, that should be later this afternoon." Albus answered.

"And the body?"

"If it is unclaimed then, it will be disposed of," choosing to bluntly answer the question since trying to ease Harry with a sugar-coated response would do nothing.

"I want him, I want to bury him next to my parents sir, how do I make that happen." Harry declared as he straightened himself up.

"You will need to be there when the will is read." Dumbledore provided the answer.

"Then let's go, I don't want him here any longer than he needs to be, it's wrong," Harry wiped his cheeks of his tear stains and firmed his features, he was not going to look like he had been crying to the public, not to the people who killed his Dogfather.

* * *

An auror had attempted to stall Harry so he wouldn't enter the chamber, but Harry hissed angrily at the man, causing him to stumble back in shock at the language of snakes. "That was not the most opportune time to display your talents Harry." Albus sighed as he held open the door for Harry to enter the chamber.

"Albus, good of you to be here, now we can begin-," Minister Fudge happily declared as he saw the Chief Warlock who would oversee the proceedings, only stopping when he noticed that Harry had taken up a seat in the chamber. "Mr. Potter this is a closed session."

"I don't care," Harry folded his arms. "I need to be here." He said as he glared at the minister.

"I understand that the man was responsible for your parents deaths." Minister Fudge tried to coax Harry out of his seat he seemed intent on remaining in.

"SHUT UP!!!" Harry shouted as he released a burst of magic, knocking the minister on his rear. "I said, I am staying," He looked around the room, seeing who would be next to tell him to leave.

"We-well, I guess it's alright," Minister Fudge quickly picked himself up off the floor and straightened his green hat and scurried away from the furious child. "Let's begin then."

Albus had the will brought over from Gringotts and ensured that this was legitimate. Taking a moment cleared his throat and mentally prepared himself he finally started to read the words of the deceased.

"I, Sirius Orion Black the Third, so declare, that this IS my final will and testament. If as I suspect, I die before I can complete the duty that I was so mistakenly blessed with. Harry, I'm sorry I left you alone again, I'm sorry I failed you and your parents. I seem to keep doing that lately.

I guess you can't teach this old dog any tricks, not the best time for joke, you're probably broken up, but, I just wanted to say that in the short time I got to know you, I was so bloody proud, you are the best of James and Lily, everything that made them the amazing and wonderful people they were, is in you.

I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, not catching Peter, god dammit, that wasn't even the worst. I should never have given you to Hagrid, I should have taken my duties as your godfather seriously, I should have done more, and now, I don't think that I can. What a failure I am.

So as my last edict, as Lord Black, the Last Lord Black, I using my right as Harry James Potter's godfather, I emancipate you, you do not have to return to the Dursleys ever again, I know they are horrible to you and you should never have gone there to begin with. I also bequeath to you everything I own, the homes, the bike, the money, all of it. I never needed it for the last thirteen years.

Harry, I hope that one day you can come to forgive me for being such a failure. I know it might not mean much, but I love you Prongslet."

Albus lowered the scroll to see a silent chamber, the information so shocking because it flew in the face of what they thought they knew. The only one not stunned into silence was the young man that came with him, whose shoulders were heaving as he felt a torrent of mixed emotions.

"This is a scam, we are being hoodwinked," Minister Fudge started to try and control the situation.

"YOU MURDERED HIM," Harry screamed suddenly, causing the chamber to start in fright. "You fucking idiotic, boneheaded, piece of worthless human garbage," Harry snarled as he flung himself over the railing and started to advance on the minister. "I told you, I told you he was innocent, that he was not a traitor, but you said I was confounded. That it was all a trick because it would make you look bad to admit that you sentenced an innocent man to thirteen years of torture before you hunted him down like an animal."

Aurors had hurried over and firmly grabbed Harry and started to drag him out of the chamber. "I will see you rot in the same cell he did Cornelious Fudge, I swear on my life, my magic and my very fucking soul, you will die in agony for this." He vowed as the large doors shut, leaving only the faintest sounds of Harry's ranting could be heard.

"Well Minister, I believe you have quite a large problem on your hands," Albus said as he walked past the minister who felt the weight of all the other members staring at him. "I will need to make sure Young Mr. Potter does not harm those poor officers of yours Amelia," leaving the chamber to contemplate on the issues at hand.

* * *

It took Albus a bit of time to assure the numerous Aurors that Harry was not currently a threat to anyone in the ministry, "Come with me Harry we will return to the Dursleys." Albus tried to guide Harry away.

"I'm not going back there, if I do and they say one stupid thing, which they will, I'll kill them," Harry huffed as he did not want to go back "home".

"No, that won't work, I can see that, but you should at least collect your belongings, your trunk and Hedwig," Albus said as he hoped the logic of returning for a few minutes will be enough to get Harry to start calming down.

"Fine, I wouldn't leave any of my stuff there and" Harry took a deep breath. "I would never leave Hedwig behind. Alright but after that we're leaving." Harry said as he started to walk with the headmaster to the atrium to use the floo.

"Back so soon bo-," Vernon opened his mouth to berate the child before Albus quickly silenced him.

"Go on Harry and gather your things," Albus nodded as Harry stomped up the stairs "Now listen here Dursleys, Harry has been emancipated, he has decided he will no longer live with you all, he's currently in a volatile state and could lash out in anger, do not test him, I will do what I can to keep the peace but should you antagonize him, I will not get in his way." Albus warned the muggles.

"I highly suggest you move, the protections I have placed on your home no longer function and you are now at the mercy of anyone who would wish to do Harry harm by going through you, I suggest somewhere far away." Seeing them nod in understanding Albus undid the silencing he had put on the fat father.

"Goodbye Harry," Petunia nervously waved as Harry walked out the door with his trunk thumping behind him, the snowy white owl on his shoulder, glaring at them. "Good luck wherever you end up," she said as politely as she could, Dudley and Vernon instead kept their mouths shut. As soon as the door shut Petunia started to box up belongings, she understood the threat the wizards possessed, if it had been enough that her sister, who wasn't afraid of anything, had gone into hiding, Petunia knew it was only a matter of time before someone came looking for them.

* * *

Amelia had just gotten done writing up the orders for an investigation into Sirius Black and the Minister of Magic, as a quiet and polite boy like Harry Potter, if her niece had been telling the truth about him, did not just suddenly make an oath on the death and suffering of anyone without considerable reason. And all signs were looking bad for the Minister, there had been no arrest report, no interrogation, no conviction for the supposed crimes the deceased Black had been accused of committing. Cornelius had denied the accusation and said the boy was still clearly confounded from when he had seen Black a few months ago, which meant that Harry was correct in his claim that he had told the minister. Of what, she would need to get under a proper investigation.

She had just locked up her office and headed out into the Ministry Atrium when a goblin quickly headed on a direct path towards her. "Gringotts Contract Office, rush order madame," the Goblin said as it handed her the letter then spoke in the native Goblin language, had she known that language, she would tell that it was marking the time of the delivery.

Intrigued as to what would cause the goblins to come by this quickly, she opened the sealed scroll and started to read the written and legal language. "Oh, bugger," Amelia swore as she finished reading the contract, a marriage contract.

"Albus," Amelia's flaming head said in the Headmaster's office. "Albus are you there, we have a problem," she called out, hoping to see or hear the headmaster. A house elf popped into the room when a floo call had gone unanswered. "Hello, I am Madame Amelia Bones of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, I urgently need to speak to Albus Dumbledore regarding Harry James Potter." She said hoping the elf could help.

"Dobby goes and gets Professor Whiskers," the house elf snapped his fingers and disappeared a few minutes later a haggard looking professor appeared in the office, having appareted back from wherever he had been. "Amelia, what seems to be the problem?" he inquired as he looked down.

"Let me through, I have something you need to see," Amelia said, hoping she didn't have to wait much longer.

Albus opened up the fireplace so Amelia could step through into his office. "What is..." he started before she shoved a piece of parchment into his hands. Readjusting his glasses Albus started to quickly scan the sheet. "Oh, oh my that is not good at all."

"Yeah, I know," Amelia folded her arms. "You know more about contracts than almost anyone who isn't a lawyer, and maybe I'm wrong but this doesn't have an escape clause in it," she said as she concluded how bad this situation was.

"No, it does not seem to have one," Albus gulped as he looked at his guest. "He's not going to be happy about this, not one bit," the headmaster sighed as he hated that he would be putting more pressure onto young Harry.

"I'm not happy about it either," Amelia snorted as if this was all fun and games for her.

"Yes, but you did not just today get slapped in the face with the corruption and incompetence of our government," Albus started gathering some books and belongings from his office. "Along with the emotional toil he was subjected to this afternoon, putting this on his shoulders will likely make for an explosive reaction."

"So where exactly is my fiance Headmaster," Amelia asked.

"I took him to the Weasleys, I had hoped that putting him around familiar and friendly faces might help him, after explaining to them what had happened, they are trying to offer him some comfort," Albus finished as he held out his arm for Fawkes to land on it. "Madame," offering his other hand to the woman.

"Might as well," Amelia groaned as she took the headmaster's offer of a ride. "Going to be a nice entrance, just pop in with a phoenix, and then shout, surprise, you're getting married," Amelia said before Fawkes vanished them in a burst of flames.

* * *

"Harry my boy," Albus said cautiously as Harry had been surprisingly quiet the entire time he had been explaining the new happenings to him.

"It's dead creepy how quiet he's being," Fred whispered to George as the Weasleys had been listening to the story, they didn't want to leave Harry alone if the headmaster, somehow, had more bad news for him. This was most certainly some kind of news.

"Do you think he broke?" George asked Percy who just shook his head and shrugged.

"I don't know," Percy responded, this was so far out of his area of knowledge he had no idea how to respond.

"Mate," Ron reached out before Harry stood up suddenly and walked out the door. "Mate!" Ron exclaimed as he and the rest followed Harry out onto the fields.

"Harry..." Molly quietly called out after Harry had stopped on a hill.

Harry let out his emotions in a mix of a scream and an explosion of magic as a massive dark purple orb obliterated the hill he had been standing on, it had only lasted a second or two, but the power was devastating, Harry was lying unconscious in the crater he had made as the witnesses nervously approached him.

* * *

Harry woke up the next day in a bed at the Weasleys, stumbling down the stairs all conversations ceased as the room's occupants took notice of him. "Hey, ugh, my head hurts," Harry groaned as he felt the pounding in his skull.

"Here, let me get you a potion for that," Molly offered as Harry sat at the table. He then took notice of something, the Burrow was surprisingly clean.

"Did something happen last night, I kind of don't remember all of it," Harry said sadly as he'd been so overloaded that his brain just decided to shunt some of his memories for its own sake.

"Well, after Sirius', you know, and his will," Ron nervously tapped the table. "You got some more news."

"What? Who else died yesterday," Harry’s eyes widened in shock. "Oh god, where's Hermione." starting to panic Harry frantically looked around the room.

"Harry, Harry, woah, no one else died, or well, no one you know died, I mean probably a lot of people died yesterday, I think a few thousand people die every day around the world," Percy rambled as he tried to calm Harry down so he didn't level the house with another outburst of his magic.

Taking over so his brother could get his foot out of his mouth, Ron put his hand on Harry’s shoulder to get him to sit back down in the chair. "Mate, Hermione's fine, I wrote a letter and had Hedwig deliver it last night, hope you don't mind, kind of a way to get her up to speed," Ron sheepishly said.

"That's fine, just someone tell me what happened." Harry looked around the room at the red heads who were keeping quiet. Until Fred and George started to hum, "Here Comes the Bride" in unison.

"Oooooooh," Harry said as his mind let him remember that little detail. "Bugger, that happened then didn't it."

"Yes Mr. Potter it did," Amelia said as Arthur let her into the house. "I just got back from Gringotts and spoke with a few lawyers regarding the circumstances of the contract, in between the investigation into the Minister and the previous Head of the DMLE." Taking a seat at the table across from her fiance she produced the document once more. “And there is no way to get it to stop, short of one of us dying.”

With a heaviness on his shoulders that only comes from having more and more responsibility and expectations placed there, Harry paused for a moment to take a few well needed deep breaths. "Well, that's that then," Harry looked from the table to the window. "Hey what happened to the hill that used to be there?" Curious at what caused a change in the landscape.

"You happened to it," Fred snickered as he nudged his twin to pick up where he left off..

"Blew your load all over it," George suppressed a laugh with a cough.

"Boys," Molly scolded as Harry started to chuckle at the joke.

"Man, I was pissed off yesterday," Harry’s chuckles turning into full body laughs. "I'm really sorry about that." he apologized to the Weasleys, as he didn't mean to blow up part of their land.

"Quite alright lad," Arthur waved dismissively. "You had to let it out somehow."

"Okay, so, now what?" Harry looked to Amelia for advice.

"As I said before, this contract is ironclad now and there is no way to stop it. The way that your parents and my brother wrote it up prevents it now." Amelia explained as she had this told to her by a lawyer she trusted to find a way to stop this or void the contract and unfortunately there didn’t seem to be a way to do so.

"Well I'm sure they had their reasons for thinking we'd make a good couple," Harry shrugged as he didn’t know why his parents decided this for him, but they must have had the best of intentions for him being wed to a much older woman.

"Not exactly, it would seem the intent was that you would wed Edgar’s daughter, my niece, Susan," Amelia clarified. "There were ways to void the contract if both of you agreed to it, or either of you were to do, some other things before that time you were both adults," Amelia glossed over what those things were, as they weren't important at this point in time and she wasn’t going to bring up those embarrassing details.

"And that doesn't count now because," Harry inquired, so far following along just fine, but there did seem to be one missing piece of information.

"Well when Siri-, your Godfather emancipated you in the will, with the open ended writing, you and I were the only unwed legal adults of both the houses of Bones and Potter, thus because I was so much older, those escape clauses were closed. It was a means to ensure that the contract didn’t go unfulfilled for too long, either it was used or voided," Amelia gulped down her worry. While she was a strong woman, there was something intimidating about telling someone that they were getting married to you and no one had a say in it, that was not easy news to deliver and how people reacted to that could be poor.

Taking a deep breath, Harry slowly exhaled. "Fine, so we're getting married," Harry said after a moment of contemplation. "When should we do this? I assume we can't just, wait until never." Harry asked.

"No, um, we'd have about a year to get things set up," Amelia explained as she pointed to the lines pertaining to when this would all need to take place.

"Huh," Harry said as he stopped on the signature line. "This is the first time I've seen my parent's handwriting, I mean, this is also the third thing of theirs I've ever held" Harry realized how little of his own heritage he's had contact with.

"What about all their money?" Ron asked stupidly, earning him a glare from his family to shut his mouth.

"Money is money, that changes hands all the time and if I've been reading the goblins right, we're just "borrowing" it from them," Harry chuckled at his humor. "Besides my dad's invisibility cloak and the Marauder's map, this might be the first thing I've gotten that involved my mother," he sadly said as a teardrop fell onto the parchment. Taking deep breaths to calm himself back down and stealing his emotions, he looked back up to Amelia, his new fiance. "So do you want to, I don't know grab some lunch," he offered. "I mean, if we're going to be married, then it might do us both some good to know more than each other's names."

"That might be a good option," Amelia nodded as she had taken the rest of the week off of work and would be willing to go along with what Mr. Potter wanted since he was the one most lost, finding any ground for him to stand on would only be fair since he was just a child. A thought that had kept her up most of the previous night. Amelia Bones was marrying a child.

"Well, let me change into something nicer and then we can go to uh, well, wherever I guess, I'm not really a picky eater and I don't exactly know any magical restaurants," Harry said as he stood up.

"That's fine I'll be waiting right here," Amelia nodded as Harry left the room, as soon as he was out of ear shot, Amelia loudly slammed her head into the table and let out a tired groan.

"Merlin!" Molly exclaimed.

"What am I doing..." Amelia whined. "I have to date my fiance, who is a boy less than half my age."

"Well no one ever said marriage was easy," Arthur tried to smile, hoping that his words would offer any sort of comfort.

"Yeah but they never said it could be this difficult, right at the start," Amelia glared at the father. "What am I supposed to do or even talk about?"

"Sports?" Fred suggested as he and his family tried to brainstorm ideas for a conversation.

"Yeah, Harry's a wicked good seeker." George concurred, Quidditch was something Harry enjoyed.

"Good we can talk about his time in school, which he's still in," Amelia covered her head with her hands, as that was going to be awkward to talk about, how she used to go to school with some of his professors.

"Food?" Ron offered as that was something he liked other than Quidditch.

"This is Harry not you," Ginny slapped her brother's head. "He's not going to care all that much, not if he can stomach mom's mincemeat pie without a complaint."

"What was that?" Molly said as she heard an insult to her cooking.

"Nothing mom." Ginny quickly said before carefully repositioning behind some of her brothers.

"Did you have a part in James' training?" Arthur remembered some of James' stories he’d heard back in the old days of the Order of the Phoenix. "Maybe you can tell him some stories about his parents."

"Great idea, then I can talk about how I had tried to date Sirius during the war, you know, just drag the past out of their graves," Amelia groaned as she still had to release the body, Albus had informed her that Harry wanted Sirius buried next to his parents. She had a few other claims from Andromeda Tonks and Narcissa Malfoy but it'd be very hard to deny Harry his request, not after the revelations of the previous day had come to light.

"Maybe just let it come naturally," Percy suggested. "It's how Penny and I ended up dating. We just started talking one day during Prefect rounds and then it was just more talks until we finally realized we'd been dating for a while at that point without even noticing."

Deciding that was the best plan so far, Amelia had to go with it, so when Harry came back down the stairs, he said his goodbyes to the Weasley’s before side-alonging with Amelia to the front steps of a quaint street, before he face planted into the ground. “I’m so sorry,” Amelia gasped as Harry dusted himself off. She really didn’t mean for that to happen.

“It’s fine, not the first time I’ve reacted poorly to magical travel.” Harry said as he realized that he scuffed up his clothes quite a bit.

“Here,” Amelia said as she waved her wand over Harry, cleaning him up. “You are also emancipated, so the Statute for Underage Sorcery no longer applies to you.” She informed him as that had likely gone over his head and he just forgot he could.

“Oh, that’s dead useful then,” Harry smiled as now he wouldn’t have to worry about using magic outside of Hogwarts. In the meantime Amelia started to walk up the steps of the restaurant that she had picked, Harry quickly hurried to catch up to her so they could enter together. And he prayed that today would be normal.


	2. A Disastrous Date

Harry tugged at his collar, he had dressed up in his best clothes for this date. Harry’s problem however was that his best was just the shirt and slacks from his school uniform and his cleanest robes, meanwhile his fiancé looked every bit the noblewoman. Harry tried to not stare, but he had to admit that she looked good. She may have been older than him, by a few decades at least, however she had aged incredibly well.

“So,” Amelia rapped her fingers on the table, she had taken Harry to a small out of the way restaurant that tended to not bother her because of her position in the ministry, so she had hoped that the additional presence of Harry Potter wouldn’t make too much of a difference.

“Yeah,” Harry said as he looked around the room trying to kill time by observing his surroundings.. “How’s work?” Harry inquired as he tried to start a conversation.

“Good, with Sirius Black’s-,” She started to say that a lot of work had come off her plate now that Sirius was confirmed to be dead. Sighing because she realized that was likely to set off Harry since she had been told of the deceased’s actual relationship with Harry. “How’s school?” She quickly shifted away from that sensitive topic.

“Fine, last year was alright, I guess,” Harry said as he had very mixed feelings about the previous school year, on the one hand he’d been worried about being killed, which wasn’t entirely new. But the revelations of what happened to his family. He struggled to drag his mind away from thoughts of Sirius now that he could no longer come live with him.

“Do you have any girls you like?” She inquired as she tried to choose topics she asked Susan about, boys and stuff. Figuring that finding out about any crushes he had might be a good way to get started, find out how disappointed he would be with an old woman.

That question caught Harry off guard, because up until that point, no one had really inquired about his proclivities nor provided the question that required him to think about it either. “Not really, and I think you’re supposed to be the only girl I like now, so-” Shrugging as he felt that he might as well consider that avenue closed off to him, since even if he didn’t like the idea of being married this early, he wouldn’t ever cheat on the person.

“Yeah, I uh,” exhaling as she realized that if he had a crush, that Harry would pretty much have to give up on any of that. “Gah, this is hard, why is this hard?” she lamented as she couldn’t think of anything that wasn’t a touchy subject or just weird to talk about. She never had this much trouble talking to anyone as far as she could recall. What Harry said next though was shocking to her.

“I know, I had an easier time talking to Voldemort back in first year,” Harry agreed that trying to find something to talk about was difficult, he barely knew how to talk to girls and the only reason he could get around that with Hermione was because they were friends first. But Madame Bones was not a girl, she was a woman, which was giving Harry very mixed emotions about the situation.

“What?” Amelia sat up straight. “What did you say?” as she had to be mishearing things. It couldn’t possibly be what he had said.

“Oh yeah, end of my first year, I had to stop Voldemort from stealing Nicholas Flamel’s philosopher stone, he wanted to use it to bring himself back to life, he’d been possessing Professor Quirrell the entire year,” Harry leaned forward and explained that series of adventures to Amelia’s amazement. As he was telling the story, he realized how foolish he had been even just those few years ago to not see who the real culprit was, but he accepted that he had found himself in a whole new world and didn’t understand half of what he had learned in these last couple of years.

Amelia quickly checked her drink to make sure it hadn’t been tampered with. “This is some kind of prank,” she said as she tried to see any signs that Harry was messing with her, it would be a messed up joke, but at least it wouldn’t be something that horrified her to her core.

“How do you not know this? Surely Dumbledore would have told someone this, I mean you two are friends right?” Harry scratched his head, he had figured that Dumbledore had been informing the Ministry about things that had been going on in the school. Something about that made Harry wonder why he ever got around to asking Dumbledore how things were going on that front after some time had passed between his misadventures.

“NO, no he did not tell me that!” Amelia stood up suddenly, knocking her chair to the ground. She was furious, if what Harry said was true, then there was a massive threat to the security of the magical world wandering around and only a bloody teenager knew of it. She pulled out her coin purse and set some galleons down on the table, and grabbed Harry’s arm and forcibly dragged him out of the building. “What else?!” She demanded to know as she let go of his arm once they were out of the eyes of the general public.

“What do you mean what else?” Harry huffed as he straightened himself up as he looked at his fiancé warily. This date, which he expected to not go well in the first place, was rapidly spiraling out of control.

Shoving Harry up against the back of the building, Amelia drew her wand angrily. “What else do you know that I don’t?” she hissed as she wanted answers, this one story was enough to get every instinct of hers screaming that He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named still being alive somehow wasn’t the end of this nightmare she now found herself in.

“Jeez, get off me,” Harry shouted as he shoved the woman back, he rubbed the back of his head from where it had hit the brick wall. “I don’t know why it matters to you, apparently it wasn’t a big enough deal when it happened but fine. Do you have anywhere better to go than just standing in an alley?” Hoping to not just stand around where anyone could see or hear them and most certainly not in a dirty alley between a restaurant and clothing store.

* * *

Grabbing his hand again, Amelia side-along apparated herself and Harry back to her manor, she landed on the carpet as Harry slammed into the floor beside her. “Seriously, come on,” Grunting in frustration as he picked himself off the floor, his frustration at the day was steadily growing.

“Sorry, I didn’t expect you to stumble,” Amelia sheepishly said as she genuinely didn’t think that Harry would fall again, she knew she would have to take time out to teach him to apparate since he could get a license for it due to his emancipation, but that would have to come later. Right now, keeping the magical world safe from Voldemort’s return was more important. “And welcome to my home,” she waved her hand around the room.

“Looks nice,” Harry said as he looked around the clean, yet inviting room. “Now where do you want me?” Unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt since, as he saw it, the date was clearly done so he might as well make himself a tad more comfortable.

Amelia sputtered at how he phrased that particular comment. “I uh, my office, if you don’t mind,” she coughed into her hand as she directed Harry down a hallway.

“Auntie,” Susan called out as she had heard that her aunt had come back home, so she started to go and see what had been so important that she had gotten all gussied up for, her voice had caused the pair to stop walking. “Harry?” she tilted her head in confusion, unsure why her year mate would be at her home. “Wait, is this some work thing?” she asked, as this wasn’t the first time someone unusual had been in their home to give information privately. And Harry Potter had always been a bit of an oddity in school so him coming by to give a statement to her aunt wasn’t too outlandish.

“Sort of,” Amelia said. “Oh jeez,” she realized as she hadn’t even told Susan about the upcoming marriage.

“What?” Susan questioned, wondering what her Aunt had forgotten to tell her.

“You didn’t tell her did you?” Harry guessed as he deduced the reason for his fiancé’s sudden distress.

“No, I didn’t know how to. How was I supposed to just sit down with her and say, you know that cute boy in your year, well he’s going to be your new uncle,” Amelia ranted back to Harry as she had been put on the spot suddenly.

“Uncle?!” Susan shouted in confusion. This was huge news, and that she didn’t hear about it until now was astonishing, after all how many times was she going to hear that her aunt was getting married, to someone her age no less.

“Cute?” Harry smirked, giving Amelia a side-long glance. He certainly hadn’t expected a compliment on his looks, which did feel pretty nice after his childhood of being mocked for his appearance.

“Susan, I promise I’ll tell you later, but I need to get some questions answered,” Amelia groaned as she just complicated her day even further. She needed to get Harry into her office to find out what to do next, because as she saw it, she was years behind on solving this problem.

Blushing Susan nodded knowingly, “You have fun “questioning” him,” she air quoted as she turned and started walking away. “Now Harry, make sure you answer those questions over and over, she really needs it,” Calling out over her shoulder before disappearing around a corner. Susan loved her aunt and knew she worked so hard to keep her career and raise her at the same time, that she really deserved to have something nice happen.

“I am pretty sure she was making fun of us,” Harry folded his arms at the comment. He didn’t know much about, well anything, but he could tell when someone was mocking him.

“Yeah,” rubbing her arm, embarrassed that Susan would say something like that. Sure it had been a while since she had any sort of intimacy with another person, but... she suddenly wasn’t sure where she was going with this thought. So for now it would be best to push that off to the side and focus on what she did know.

“So you want to get this over with,” Harry turned to continue walking. “That way we can try and figure out how to even talk to each other.”

“Let’s,” Amelia nodded as she shut the door to her office.

* * *

A few hours later, Amelia had just finished downing a bottle of fire whiskey, “Mr. Potter that’s,” she gasped out after Harry had finished telling his stories. He’d done what he could to provide proof of his claims, such as projecting his corporeal Patronus, showing the bite mark on his arm from the basilisk. It was enough for her to believe that much of what he had told her was true.

“You gonna be alright?” Harry asked as the other woman was clearly distressed and a touch inebriated.

“Forget about me, how are you alright?” she asked. “For Merlin’s sake you fended off every dementor from Azkaban with a single spell. You fought Salazar Slytherin’s pet monster in a secret part of the school thought to be a legend, with a bloody sword. And you’ve stopped Voldemort from resurrecting himself twice now.” She said as she picked out the culmination of each year's conflicts, which still didn’t touch on everything he did in between the years that impressed and scared her.

“I guess,” Harry rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. He felt that she was exaggerating his accomplishments quite a bit, he didn’t particularly consider them to be grand deeds, but things anyone should have or would have done.

“Harry, do you know what a pensive is?” she asked as she opened a large cabinet in her office that held the particular artifact.

Shaking his head, as he did recall ever hearing the word or coming across it. “Sorry, I don’t believe I do.”

“That’s okay,” smiling back at him as she set the stone basin on the desk in between them. “What this does is allow others to see your memories, it’s not perfect, but from what you told me, this would be incredibly helpful in convincing other people as to what you said and haven’t said,” Amelia informed him as to the function of the object. “Now all I need is to take a copy of those memories, if that’s alright with you?” holding out her wand, hoping that Harry wouldn’t object to her request.

“Sure, if it will make you feel better,” Harry acquiesced to his fiancé who took a long silvery strand from his forehead after he brought all the memories of what he had told her over the afternoon to the forefront of his mind. He watched as she put the gooey substance that reminded him of something else his body was able to produce, which made him incredibly glad no one could read his mind at the moment, into a large potion vial.

“Good, now wait just a moment, I need to get someone here to verify it,” she said as she walked over to the fireplace and tossed some floo powder in. “Saul get your ass in here, RIGHT NOW!!!” she screamed into the Unspeakable’s office at the Ministry, then stood up and opened the floo as a man in a hooded robe that obscured his face stepped in.

“Amelia, you’re looking-” the head unspeakable started to flirt once he saw Amelia’s attire, as it was not every day that Madame Amelia Bones was dressed to the nines. And since he wasn’t aware of any particular event going on, it was enough to get a man hopeful.

“No,” firmly cutting him off before he could make an ass out of himself. “You, pensive now, verify this is untampered with,” Amelia shoved the vial into his hands. “Then when you’ve finished calming yourself down, come back here.” She said as she pushed him into the green fire and sent him stumbling backwards into his office. After passing off the information, Amelia trudged over to her desk and slumped into her chair with an exhausted sigh.

Having picked up the particular skill to tell when someone was just done with everything that day, Harry decided he should do what he could to take over for the rest of the evening. “So, we never got our lunch, you want to just grab some burgers?” Harry shrugged as he was a bit peckish at the moment and could tell that she could use some time away from all of this.

“Oh my god, I could kill for some junk food,” Amelia said, today was turning into a massive headache and getting some greasy meat in her would make her feel much better. She quickly grabbed Harry’s hand and apparated to a nearby fast food joint.

* * *

“So you learned to cast a Patronus that early huh?” Amelia said as she sipped her drink. Harry had been telling her of his more enjoyable experiences at Hogwarts, rather than the awful times he’d nearly died.

“Yeah, I guess people were expecting my boggart to be Voldemort or something,” Harry munched on some fries. “But, I don't know, dementors are scarier than him to me. He was always just this guy I had to fight constantly, but they make me remember my parents deaths so, that’s,” Harry shrugged. “Rough.”

“Sound’s awful,” Amelia reached out her hand to tenderly take his. “I’m really sorry for how things have gone.”

“Why, you didn’t cause any of them to happen,” Harry shrugged off the platitude as he never knew how to accept these types of comments, he knew they came from a good place, but no one ever teaches you what to say in situations like this.

“No, but now I can help you,” Amelia said. “I am after all the Head of the DMLE.”

“You are?!” Harry exclaimed in shock. “Wow, that’s impressive, I figured anyone who managed to get high up in the government had to be old or an idiot,” Harry snorted back a laugh.

“And do I fit in either of those,” Amelia glared at the perceived slight.

“Not at all, you’re incredibly beautiful and you actually know how to use your brain,” Harry waved his hands in front of himself defensively.

“Thank you, and you aren’t that bad at thinking on your feet,” Amelia smirked, as she found teasing him wasn’t too hard, she just had to think like a teenager again.

“Ha ha ha,” Harry faked a laugh. “So do you like raising Susan?”

“Yeah, she’s a good kid, I just wish her parents were here, the war took a lot from everyone, you’d know,” Amelia stared wistfully out of the window, the thoughts of how differently things might have been on her mind.

“Yeah, I just wish I had stopped him sooner,” Harry said sadly. “I feel like I’m never able to get this right.” After learning about the war and what being The-Boy-Who-Lived meant, Harry felt guilty about how the events had turned out and if things would have been better if he just knew more than he did.

“We really need to work on that,” Amelia shook her head. “You cannot blame yourself for the actions of other people, especially those that took place before you were even born, you were a baby, it wasn’t your responsibility to end this war.” Despite his age, Amelia could see that Harry’s past had shaped him and that while he might be young, he was definitely not a child.

“And you have done far more than anyone should have put on your shoulders to keep everyone safe,” Amelia said as she wanted to hammer home that Harry was doing a superb job and that was without any real support outside his two friends. “Harry, you are a good person and have helped so many people, don’t drown in the thought of how bad things might have been.”

“But sometimes that’s all I feel,” Harry admitted as there were so many times he just felt like it all didn’t matter, that everything was going to go wrong and he’d make things worse.

“I’m here now Harry, I won’t let you drown,” Amelia promised as she knew that Harry’s biggest problem was that he just didn’t believe that others believed in him, she needed to change that, to help build up his confidence so it didn’t only show itself when he faced off against certain death.

“Thanks,” Harry said with a small smile. “I’ll try.” Deciding it would be better to agree with her than to keep trying to pity himself.

“Great, how about we grab something for Susan before we go and then head back home for some well deserved rest?” Asking in case there was anything that Harry needed to do before they left.

“I guess, but,” Harry nervously rubbed his arm, the next question he had was going to be difficult to get out. “Where exactly is home?”

She had to stop herself from laughing because she could tell that for Harry this was a huge concern for him, as she had been told by Albus that Harry was no longer living with his relatives and effectively he was homeless until he could get into any of the properties owned by the Blacks or Potters. Looking down at him with care in her heart, she tenderly reached out her hand. “With me of course,” she smiled. “I’m going to be your wife, I think we should probably live together, if that’s not a problem with you?”

Harry felt a warmth in Amelia’s touch that he hadn’t felt in anyone else that he could recall. Slowly nodding, Harry stayed silent until they arrived back at Madame Bones’ home, he had a lot of thinking to do about his new relationship.


	3. Chapter 3

It was a strange sensation to wake up in an unfamiliar room. For Harry it felt like being at Hogwarts for the first time, a new place, away from all the past. But unlike Hogwarts, this place was his new home. Harry planted his feet on the solid wood floors and took in the room around him as he recalled his talk with Amelia the previous night about which room he would be staying in.

“I uh,” Harry rubbed his arm nervously as he stood outside the room Amelia had taken him too. “Is this your… you know?”

Smiling at the boy who would be her husband. “No, this isn’t my room. I think that would be moving a little too fast Harry,” Amelia said as she pushed open the doors. “This was a guest room, but for now it will serve as your room until we're ready to do more than get to know one another,” trailing off as that was a bit harder to discuss, when they would feel close enough to share a bed.

“Okay, I’ll uh, see you in the morning then Amelia,” Harry turned and then realized he should do something now, but he wasn’t sure what so he awkwardly shut himself in the room before he made a fool of himself. “God, see you in the morning?” he quietly hissed to himself. “What was that?! I sounded like an idiot.” he chastised himself as he climbed in the sheets for the night.

* * *

“Hello, I bes Milly,” the house elf greeted Harry once he stepped out of his room. The elf had been told that Harry was likely to get lost or confused so to be there to help him out in the morning.

“Oh jeez,” Harry started as he hadn’t expected a house elf to be waiting for him. After taking a moment to calm himself. Harry kneeled down to be eye level with the elf. “I’m Harry, Harry Potter,” he greeted as he extended his hand out.

“Master Harry Potter sir,” Milly curtsied for him.

“No, just Harry, I’m no one’s master,” Harry shook his head as he’d tried that before with Dobby. Hopefully this elf would be more cooperative. “Milly can you tell me where the kitchen is? I’d like to make some breakfast.”

“Milly can be taking Master Harry to the dining room,” the elf nodded.

_ ‘Well it’s progress,’  _ Harry sighed as he got the elf to drop his last name and the sir from his title. “Erm, Milly, I was hoping to go to the kitchen to do the cooking?” he questioned why the elf had brought him to a different room instead of the one he wanted.

“No’s, Milly be doing the cooking for Boneses and the Madam’s betrothed,” Milly protested. “Master Harry be served a good meal.”

“It’s fine Milly, I’m used to doing the cooking,” Harry tried to say.

“And that be over, Master Harry no longer cooking for himself, that Milly’s job now,” the elf firmly stated what her role was to be.

“But…” Harry stammered as he tried to think of something. He didn’t want to be forced to cook, but now that he wanted to make himself breakfast, he wasn’t being allowed to. “Could I do it just this once, I wanted to at least do something for Amelia since she’s been so nice to me.”

The elf hummed as it tried to think of a reason it shouldn’t allow this. But Harry had already moved past her and she scrambled to catch up to him. “Milly will set the dishes and clean, after seeing how Master Harry cooks.” She said as she watched Harry walk into the spacious kitchen to begin making some food for his hosts.

* * *

“Oh that smells lovely,” Susan said as she followed her nose. “Milly, you’re doing an amazing job as always,” looking around the kitchen to see all the different breakfast dishes the elf had made. Large fluffy pancakes, warm crispy bacon and gooey cheesy eggs. “It looks so good,” she said as she loaded up a plate.

“Thanks, I’m glad you like it,” Harry said, startling his classmate who had forgotten he was even here. “Morning Susan.”

“Morning,  _ Uncle  _ Harry,” she teased as she wanted to get back at him for giving her a spook this early in the morning. “Did you and aunty have  _ fun  _ last night?” waggling her eyebrows at Harry’s back. Which was a slight mercy for him since his face was crimson.

“Susan,” Amelia said as she stumbled into the room, with a stretch. “Don’t tease your uncle. That food smells good.” She said with a yawn as she looked around for breakfast.

Harry had turned and froze upon seeing his betrothed. “Oh,” was all he could say when he took in her, in her natural beauty. Messy hair, an oversized t-shirt and some baggy pajama pants, she looked a mess, but for Harry that was his mess and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he took in her form.

“I know I’m hideous,” Amelia groaned at not being a morning person and she never bothered to really dress herself or do anything in the early hours, especially not if she didn’t have to do anything.

“No, you look,” Harry bit back the first descriptor he wanted to say. “Good,” he quietly added on.

“Ugh,” Amelia said as she felt that Harry’s response was forced for all the wrong reasons. “What a great way to start a relationship, just show all the wrinkles and mess that I am.”

“No no,” Harry hurried over. “I mean it, you look... not fake,” Harry said. “I’m just so used to seeing everyone else put on makeup to try to look good and you just are good looking.” He really was being honest, the girls in his year or lower only seemed to cake on makeup and the older girls while looking nice always seemed fake to him with how they presented themselves.

“Wow Aunty,” Susan snickered as she could see her aunt smile at the nice words. “What do I have to do to get a guy this well trained?” having decided that this summer was to be dedicated to teasing the two of them for their sudden relationship, that they had failed to inform her of as soon as it happened.

“I don’t know,” Amelia admitted as she was genuinely shocked that Harry was complimenting her, right now she couldn’t tell if he was trying to force them out though. “Maybe Longbottom will be like this for you?” she said, hoping to divert the topic away from her and onto something else while she ate. She then quickly stood up from the table to go and get dressed and try to look presentable to the world.

“Oh Nev,” Harry looked up from his plate when he heard his housemate’s last name. “Yeah, he’s a nice enough bloke.”

“I know he’s nice, but he’s not asked me out yet.” Susan complained.

Harry blinked. “Do you want him to?” He wasn’t entirely sure what the problem was here.

“Of course,” Susan rolled her eyes.

“Then why don’t you ask him, he’s pretty shy, it’d likely take him a while to act on it,” Harry suggested.

“You’ll talk to him for me Uncle Harry, that’s great,” Susan said, completely ignoring what advice Harry had just given.

“Well I could but…” Harry trailed off as he was just responding to what Susan was saying not realizing that he fell into her trap so easily.

“Thanks Uncle Harry,” Susan said as she quickly left the room which would prevent Harry from attempting to countermand her pushing all the responsibility onto him.

After taking a moment to understand what she just did to him, Harry looked around the now empty room. “She’s way too devious to be a Hufflepuff,” Harry shook his head in disbelief as he finished up his morning meal.

“Now that breakfast is out of the way,” Amelai said as she re-entered having gone to make herself presentable to the outside world and not just her strange betrothed who she believed must have no standards at all if he could think she looked anything good in all her morning glory. “Time to get you to St. Mungos.”

“Wait, what?” Harry looked up as this was the first he’d heard of this.

“Harry, after everything you told me, have you ever once seen any kind of healer for your injuries outside Madam Pomfrey?” She questioned.

“Well no,” Harry nodded his head as he thought that she had a good point.

“Have you ever gotten your shots or had your eyes checked?” Placing her hand on her hip as she waited for him to just agree with what she wanted to get done.

“Shots for what and my glasses are just fine,” Harry said as he didn’t want to admit that he’d not really done anything to prepare himself for the magical world. And hearing things like this was not helping him feel like no one else was preparing him for it either.

“So we’re going to St. Mungos for a physical and a few other things. Those shots are for illnesses that are somewhat common in the magical world, that you never got them for three years is distressing,” Amelia said as she walked over to the fireplace.

Realizing he had no good reason to avoid seeing a doctor and many more reasons why he should go, he stood up and was prepared to take his plate to the kitchen when he noticed it was already gone. “Damn she’s good,” Harry commented as he’d barely looked away before Milly snatched it away from him.

* * *

“I hope this is all for a prank Amelia,” the doctor said as he looked over the chart having just finished compiling the reports the other doctors had given and grim did not even begin to describe the results of their scans.

“And if it’s not?” Amelia inquired as she was already dreading how damaged Harry was when the fourth specialist had come in and that hadn’t even been the last.

Passing off the chart to the Department Head. “The boy has signs of severe malnourishment, multiple improperly healed broken bones, his blood is somehow poisonous, his eyesight is atrocious to the point that his glasses barely do anything and to top it all off, his scar is tainted with dark magic.” The doctor listed off the major problems he and his team had found as they had to keep bringing in more and more witches and wizards who had different specializations to find all the problems plaguing the young celebrity.

“I’ll have a talk with him about this, but we do need to begin treatment for him now,” Amelia frowned as she handed the list to Harry who looked it over, considering what Harry had told her the previous day, seeing the report like this was just more evidence in his favor.

“Yeah that’s about right,” Harry nodded as he saw all the damage his body had been subjected to over the years. The spots they marked from breaks were easy to remember when he got them. The blood situation he was a little surprised but not unaware about, as he knew the basilisk bite could have potentially done something to him.

“Well, I’ll have to speak to some people but we’ll get a list to you tomorrow about what we’ll start on,” the doctor sighed. “First of all, take him to get new glasses, that’s the easiest thing to do or just get his eyes fixed, either one.”

“Wait, my eyes can be fixed?” Harry said in shock as this was the first time he’d heard that he had that option. And now he really wanted to know why it was never brought up to him before.

“Part of the talk Harry,” Amelia said as she escorted him out of the office and down a hall looking for whichever witch or wizard could work on Harry’s eyes.

“I get the feeling this is going to be a long talk,” Harry sadly stated as he realized a lot of the injuries he had were due to the Dursleys and his upbringing rather than one of his adventures. It didn’t help to see the furious scowl on Amelia’s face as they walked past other patients who scurried to get out of her path.

Finally they stopped outside an office but before they went in Amelia gently rested her hands on Harry’s shoulders. “I’m not mad at you Harry, please believe me,” Amelia calmly said standing next to him. “I’m just furious that only now is any of this being addressed.”

“Well, I guess I’m just glad that someone cared enough about me to finally do something.” Harry shrugged as he decided it wasn’t worth getting into the dirty details of his previous homelife.

Amelia looked very sad that a young man had even believed such a horrible notion but she was worried that he wasn’t being over dramatic and was in fact underplaying the severity of the issue.

* * *

Harry was amazed that he no longer needed to wear glasses after a single visit corrected his eyesight. “I- Why was I never told about this?” He questioned as the world had never looked so clear to him before.

“My guess,” Amelia pouted as she figured why this might have gone so long without notice. “Is that people might have assumed you were making a fashion statement, like with your clothes.”

“But that was just because I only had Dudley’s old hand-me-downs. I hate wearing them,” Harry said firmly as they had just left Saint Mungos with a case of potions for him to start taking to try and fix some of the issues he’d had growing up.

“Then we are going shopping to get you all new clothes.” Amelia declared as she whisked Harry and herself away to a shopping district that catered to both magical and muggle attire. Even though Harry would likely outgrow them all by the time he went back to Hogwarts, she couldn’t stand to see him in rags or wearing his school uniform all the time to look somewhat presentable.

Harry had started to protest about going clothes shopping but Amelia had been firm with telling him he would feel so much better wearing clothes that fit. And she had been right, the new clothes didn’t scratch his skin, he wasn’t both too big for some clothes and too small for others. His shoes were nice and comfortable and even if he’d been embarrassed when Amelia helped him pick out his underwear, he felt more supported in these than his old things, which Amelia promised to have Milly burn when they got home.

* * *

Harry had been first to go through the floo back to his new home, which something in his chest felt less tight as he thought about that change and he was stepping out of the floo before he noticed that there was someone waiting for them. Harry was quickly alarmed as tall, faceless, hooded figures tended to not be a good sign, especially after his last school year.

Amelia arrived shortly after and noticed that her betrothed had his wand out and aimed at. “Ah Croaker,” she said flatly as she recognized the man, but was also unhappy that he just let himself in. “What brings you around?” she asked as she hoped the man wouldn’t take up too much of her time. She really wanted to have that talk with Harry about his previous homelife.

“Don’t you “ah Croaker” me Amelia,” Saul stormed towards the witch, his tone filled with barely restrained anger. However his path was blocked as Harry met him halfway across the room.

Harry shoved his arms into the older wizard. “No, back off,” he warned as he pointed his wand at the unspeakable’s face. He did not like the way this wizard spoke to Amelia, he was in her home and he had no business acting like this.

“Mr. Potter, was what she showed the truth or is this some type of elaborate prank?” the Unspeakable demanded to know as he ignored the wand aimed at him.

“If it’s the memories Amelia gave you, then yes, it’s all true, so back off!” Harry ordered the man to take another step back. The tip of his wand lighting up as Harry was getting very angry with this guy for his attitude.

The Head Unspeakable took a large step back, even if he was sure that Harry was not as skilled as the memories implied he was, attacking him or even being seen as a threat would not save him from the ass kicking Amelia would dish out to him since he could see that she had drawn her wand at some point. “Okay, I’m calm,” he raised his hands. “Harry, what the fuck?” Saul said as he couldn’t think of any other way to put how he felt about the memories he had viewed in his pensieve.

“No safer place than Hogwarts,” Harry snorted. “So who knows what this year has in store.” He said sarcastically as he couldn’t imagine what else life could throw at him. Taking a seat on the couch with Amelia taking a spot next to him and being very close, almost to the point where their thighs were touching. Harry almost didn’t notice that Saul was giving this situation an appraising look.

“Emancipation triggered a marriage contract,” Amelia informed the unspeakable who she knew would keep his mouth shut about this, or she would come down to his office and kick the crap out of him.

Saul grumbled at learning that Amelia Bones and her very impressive chest were claimed by someone else. “So that explains that then,” he said trying to keep his displeasure out of his voice.

“So we’ve seen proof of many things, one that You-Know-Who is still alive, the ministry is corrupt beyond reason and so far the only reason we haven’t had hundreds of dead kids or a revived dark lord with immortality walking around has been because of my betrothed. And the only question is now what can we do to help him?” Amelia asked bluntly after laying out all the big information.

“Fuck if I know,” Saul admitted. “Best we can do so far is to clean house, unless we know where You-Know-Who is, we’d be wasting time and resources trying to track him down.”

“Well I’m already working on an investigation against the minister, and once I bring forth charges, I’m sure that a lot of powerful people are going to fall,” Amelia grinned at the idea of seeing Fudge and Malfoy get what they finally deserve, especially with how they put every child in the castle in danger, it was one of the few things both sides of the powers agreed on, endangering the children was not tolerated because it could just as easily be their own.

While the two adults carried on their conversation about plots and schemes to remove the insidious elements from the ministry, Harry just enjoyed the presence of his betrothed. Finally after a time the Unspeakable left the home leaving Harry alone with Amelia.

It was a few minutes of quiet they shared before Milly came in and politely informed them dinner was served.

* * *

“Wow Harry you look so much better with the new clothes,” Susan said as she was surprised to see Harry without glasses or those disgusting rags he was known to wear.

“Yeah, Amelia has good taste in clothing,” Harry smiled as he did notice that what he wore didn’t just feel better but he knew he looked better too. “Her seeing me in my underwear was a little embarrassing though,” he blushed as he recalled that she said she wanted to make sure it wasn’t the wrong size.

Amelia winked at her betrothed. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about.” Even though he had been covered, she could see the outline and wasn’t disappointed in it’s size.

“Yeah well, how would you feel if I was staring at you in your, you know?” Harry weakly asked before he noticed that Amelia had shifted to face him. “Wait…” he said before she pulled open her blouse and showed off her large chest clad in a lacy black bra. His ability to speak ceased as he took a nervous gulp.

“And now you have,” Amelia giggled as she buttoned up her shirt and continued eating. It was a bold move on her part and one she decided to do on the spur of the moment. But she was rewarded with seeing the huge blush on Harry’s cheeks when he saw what she had under her blouse.

“Wow I think you broke him auntie?” Susan commented as Harry’s face was a vibrant shade of red.

“Harry make sure you eat, those potions will need something to start working off of,” Amelia pointed towards her betrothed’s plate of food with her fork.

Turning back to his own plate of food Harry kept his gaze locked on the place in front of him. He couldn’t afford another shock such as seeing even more of Amelia’s body. He had been worried that his nose would have begun bleeding from seeing the breasts of the woman he was going to be marrying. It was the first time he’d seen some that weren’t on some advertisement or on a magazine cover.

And they looked amazing.

* * *

The next morning Harry was woken up to the feeling of something on his chest and poking at his head. “Too early,” Harry grumbled before Hedwig shrieked in his ear to awaken him. “Okay, I’m up now,” Harry said as he sat up. His snowy white owl flying over to land on the headboard.

“A letter?” Harry scratched his head as he looked at the missive. “Was it that important?” Harry questioned why Hedwig had been so adamant to give him the mail.

Hedwig puffed up at the accusation that anything she did wasn’t of the utmost importance. When her human finally took the letter she hunkered down so that she could get some well deserved rest.

Looking at the name Harry saw that it had come from Hermione. “Oh yeah, Ron did say he sent Hedwig off to get Hermione caught up to speed. Wonder what she had to say?” Harry said to himself as he tore open the envelope. Scanning through the letter Harry was tempted to put it off to the side. It was filled with kind words, how she was sorry she couldn’t be there for him, and worst of all, how Sirius’ death wasn’t his fault. He knew that, but a part of him felt that it was and he didn’t need people trying to tell him what he already knew to try and get him to cheer up.

But instead he persevered and found that not all of the pages were about Sirius, some of it was actually about her own time on vacation before she would be coming back for the Quidditch World Cup. She asked how he felt about getting married and if the lady was nice.

That made Harry think about his situation he was in, there wasn’t a way out of the marriage without either him or Amelia dying and since he wasn’t planning on that happening and he’d never want someone to die for his benefit ever again, he had to come to terms with being stuck with the woman. It really made him reassess where he was in life, especially with the recent emancipation.

And when he was thinking about the situation he had to think about the woman in the situation with him. To which Harry concluded that yes, Amelia was a very nice woman and she deserved to have a nice husband and since that role seemed to fall onto his shoulders, he knew he had to take action. To be more than just The-Boy-Who-Lived, a child she got stuck with being married to because of crazy circumstances, he needed to be The-Man-Who-Won-Her-Heart.

Setting the letter down Harry dressed himself in some of his new clothes and headed towards the dining room, where he found Amelia and Susan already sitting and chatting with each other. He greeted Susan when they noticed him enter the room, but Harry had an idea.

With newfound confidence, Harry strode over towards Amelia’s side and leaned forward so he could give her a light kiss on the cheek. “Good morning Amelia,” Harry smiled before taking a seat next to her and starting in on his breakfast.


End file.
